Evolution
by StrollingPlayer
Summary: ..He's evolved. He will again." Post Epitaph Two.
1. Prologue

**I don't know about you guys but the finale just left me wanting more. Unfortunately there isn't going to be more because of the cancellation. The finale also left me wondering what happens to Alpha. The last we see him he's asking for a favor, then Adelle says he left, not knowing what he would become after the pulsebomb went off. So this story is exactly about that. In this story you will see my take on what happens to Alpha after Epitaph Two as well as some of the other Dollhouse characters.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns everything. **

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Prologue

The sun was still low in the sky as Alpha made his way to the outskirts of what used to be L.A. It was still early morning, but the sounds of fighting could be heard even then. It amazed him how long the butchers could fight -- their persistency to kill. Of course, he had been just as persistent and viscous as them when it all started.

Alpha stopped near the mouth of an alley and knelt down behind a pile of trash. He held his gun ready, listening for the sounds of fighting. There was the sound of gunfire close to the alley. Peering over the top of the pile, he could see butchers fighting against a group of people.

He frowned. The fighting was right in the middle of an intersection, so the only cover were cars. They weren't much if he wanted to go unnoticed for a long period of time. He sighed. He had wanted to try and get out of the city, but he could see now that it would be impossible. Even with all his personalities there was no way he could fight off a group of butchers while trying to avoid hitting the other people, _and _explain to them that he himself wasn't a butcher. For that he would have to be bullet proof and unfortunately Superman wasn't one of his imprints.

Rather than go back the way he came Alpha climbed up the fire escape behind him. When he got to the top, he waited until the next round of gunfire before breaking open the window. Avoiding the jagged pieces of glass, he climbed inside. He was in a bedroom that was surprisingly intact. No broken furniture, but despite that he didn't want to stay in a room with an opening so he moved on to the rest of the apartment.

The living room was in much worse condition, but Alpha moved right past it and locked himself in the bathroom. Butchers wouldn't find him right away if they came into the apartment. Alpha lay down in the tub. It reminded him of the sleeping pods in the Dollhouse, giving him a sense of security despite all the chaos.

He thought briefly of the people he had sheltered. Adelle would take care of them, she told him so herself. Echo would be fine too, once she found what he had left for her. Topher was going to reset everyone's mind back to how they were before the first mind wipe.

For him this was not a good thing. Alpha wasn't sure who he would be after Topher reversed the mind wipe. He'd either be the way he was before everything went to hell, or who he was before the Dollhouse. Whoever he ended up being, he was going to be dangerous, which was why he wanted to try to isolate himself.

Alpha had no idea how long he'd been lying in the bathtub when it happened. A shock went through his entire body before everything went black.

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**So....questions, reviews, random comments?**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Alpha woke up to one of the most excruciating headaches he had ever known. With all the different personalities in his head it was inevitable that he would have the occasional headache, but never one as bad as what he was experiencing at the moment. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to take stock of all the personalities and reign them in. To his surprise there seemed to be only one causing him problems. All his other personalities seemed to be suppressed, at the moment, making them the quietest they'd been since his composite. It was just the one, and unlike the other personalities that just fought to be heard, this one fought to be in control.

Alpha groaned and pressed his hand against the side of his head. He began pressing down on the personality, trying to suppress it. He didn't recognize it, which was extremely odd because he knew all the people inside his head.

After a minute or so the person finally gave in. As it subsided, he was suddenly hit by a memory, making his head feel like it had been split open.

_He was standing in the power plant where he had taken Echo. All his tech was gone though, and he was holding a knife. In front of him was a woman tied to a chair. She had tears running down her face, and was pleading for him to let her go._

The memory ended as abruptly as it began.

Realizing for the first time that he was in a bathroom, Alpha crawled out of the tub and over to the toilet, where he was sick.

After he was done vomiting he rinsed his mouth out at the sink and tried to figure out what happened.

He didn't recognize the clothes he was wearing or the memory he had just had. When he tried to recall the last thing he remembered he discovered that his own memories were hazy. He could barely remember living in a Days Inn for a few days, months after his last visit to the Dollhouse. Everything after was a blank.

Alpha could think of only one person who could erase his memories. "Topher."

Even with 48 different personalities, nothing could have prepared him for what he found outside. Entire buildings were collapsed, fires burned, and people wandered around in obvious confusion. Alpha tried to rationalize what had happened.

_Maybe a bomb went off, and the explosion caused amnesia,_ one of his more practical personalities rationalized.

It didn't explain the new personality, though. Alpha knew that if he wanted answers, that the best place to go was the Dollhouse.

It took over an hour to find the right building. Everything was so destroyed, that he barely recognized the different streets. The top three floors seemed to be destroyed, but the base was intact. Using the same entrance he used with Ballard, Alpha re-entered the Dollhouse.

The Dollhouse seemed to have been untouched by the chaos above ground, and at first he thought it was empty. Then he heard the voices. Walking down the main steps, he could see Sierra and Victor sitting on one of the couches with a little boy, reading.

As he approached, Victor looked up from the book they were reading. He stared at him warily as he stood and walked towards him.

"Adelle said you left. What happened?"

Without a word Alpha hit him in the side of his face with his gun, causing him to fall to the floor. He pointed his gun at him. "I don't know. You tell me."

Victor looked up at Alpha, eyes blazing. "So much for being, 'lapsed'."

Alpha raised a brow. "Sorry, but I don't know what you mean by that."

"Oh god, you went aboveground, didn't you?"

He turned his head toward Sierra. Her voice had a note of irritation in it despite the terror in her face.

"I guess so, since I woke up aboveground, in a bathtub I might add. Now, if one of you doesn't start explaining why half of L.A. is destroyed, lover boy here is going to have his brains splattered across the floor. "

"Alpha," a voice said sharply. Alpha spun around to see Echo standing in the hallway that led to the sleeping chambers.

As always his heart sped up at the sight of her. She hadn't changed much since he last saw her, except for a few strands of gray in her hair. He grinned wickedly at her.

"Hello Echo. The three of us were just having a little chat. You know, old friends catching up. I don't suppose you want to tell me why I woke up in a bathtub with a hazy memory, do you?"

Echo regarded him calmly, yet still wary of the gun he had pointed at Victor. "Put the gun down and I'll explain everything."

"And if I don't?"

She took a few steps toward him, and pulled a handgun out from behind her back. "Then you'll be the one with your brains splattered across the floor."

Alpha knew that he could just simply point out that he could shoot Victor before she got the chance, but he decided he'd get answers faster by giving in. He pointed the gun away from Victor and up at the ceiling. "Fair enough."

Echo lowered her own weapon. "Good. We can talk in Topher's office."

She walked past him and headed for the stairs. As he followed her he could hear Victor telling Sierra to take one of his guns for protection. Alpha smirked.

_Smart boy, _he thought_._

Topher's office hadn't changed either, since he had last been in it with Echo. It still looked like someone's dorm room. He noticed that they had fixed the window, wincing as he remembered Echo tackling him through it.

"You should probably sit down," she told him, though, she herself was standing.

"You sound like you're about to tell me someone died."

"Someone did die," came Victor's voice.

Alpha turned to see Victor standing in the doorway. He walked past him and positioned himself behind Echo.

"A bunch of people died, actually," he continued. "All that destruction you saw out there is the aftermath of a war."

The gears in Alpha's mind began clicking away as he took in what Victor just said. His more intelligent personalities thought of what could have led to a war, and why he wouldn't remember it. They all came to the same conclusion.

"The technology got out of control didn't it?"

Echo nodded. "Yes, like, end of civilization, out of control. There were mind wipes on massive scales. The Chinese were the first to use it. They programmed people to be killers-we called them butchers. They would kill anyone who wasn't like them. It wasn't long before all form of technology was used to transmit wipes. The people who got hit by those were usually just put into a Doll state."

"Was I wiped," Alpha asked, finding it hard to believe that he, of all people, would be susceptible to the mass mind wipes. After all he had been able to develop feelings for Echo despite the regular wipes he'd been put through as an active.

"Not exactly," Victor answered.

Alpha raised an eyebrow. "What do mean? Either I was wiped or I wasn't."

"You were wiped, but it wasn't by one of the blanket signals. Topher found a way to restore everyone's mind to their original personality. People with Doll architecture in their brain, like us, who hadn't been wiped, would forget everything after the first blanket signal."

"Would the people with Doll architecture also have their original personality restored?"

"Yes."

Alpha's mind went back to when he first woke up, remembering the personality that had fought him for control.

"You two obviously remember everything that's happened. How come you didn't have your memories erased?"

"Topher used a pulse bomb to restore everyone to their former self. We were underground when it was set off, so it didn't affect us. We're going to have to stay underground for about a year, so we won't be touched by it's after affects," Echo explained. "You went aboveground before it was set off."

"So I was here when all this was happening? I knew about the pulse bomb?"

"You helped Topher put it together."

"So I choose to go up to the surface, knowing that I'd be restored to my original personality?"

"Yes," Echo said, sounding exasperated.

Alpha was silent for a few moments before letting out a scornful laugh. "Please, like I'd ever do something like that."

He continued to laugh as both Echo, and Victor, stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. He didn't care though. The idea of him willingly returning to his original personality was absurd.

"I mean, really, after smashing the damn wedge my original self was in, do you really think I would want to go back to being the weak creature I was before?"

"You were different," Echo said quietly. "Ten years of fighting changed you."

Alpha stared at her, trying to figure out if he had heard her correctly. "Ten years?"

She nodded. " I can tell you everything that happened, if you just listen."

He looked at her for a moment, wondering if he could trust her to be truthful about what happened. She had no reason to lie to him, other than to manipulate him, but seeing as he himself was a master manipulator he didn't think she would be successful if she tried.

"Fine. It's not like I have anything better to do, not with Starbucks being destroyed and all."

"You should, sit down then. This is going to take a while."

Reluctantly, Alpha sat himself down on Topher's couch to hear what he'd been doing over the past ten years.


	3. Chapter 2

**Okay, so after taking a little bit of a break from the Dollhoue fandom I'm back. :)**

**Thank you for everyone who has revied or favorited/subscribed this story(JessTheGeek, Elliesmeow, and Like-Vines-We-Intertwine). And of course a special thanks to my awesome beta Whiskey's Original Personality, who has several fantastic Dollhouse fics herself.**

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**Chapter Two**

"So, I'm the one who discovered safe haven," Alpha asked, disbelieving.

Echo nodded. She had just finished telling him everything that happened. How, along with her and Paul they'd found a place safe from printing, and that he'd spent most of the ten years traveling back and forth between traveling with Victor and fighting with Echo before finally returning to the Dollhouse.

Alpha stood and began pacing up and down the room.

"Paul was with us there, too?"

"Yes."

"And I didn't kill him?" 

"Well, I did have to stop more than one fight," she admitted.

Alpha stopped and folded his arms, looking thoughtful. "He's dead now, though?"

"Yes," Victor said irritably. "We already told you that he was shot in the head. What more do you want, a body?"

"Yes, actually, so I can kick it."

Victor scowled, but before he could yell at him Echo spoke up.

"He's not dead."

Both Victor and Alpha looked at her, surprise etched into their faces.

"Echo," Victor said softly," He was shot, remember? He died saving Mag."

"I know, but," she hesitated a moment before looking at Alpha.

"When I went to dismantle the chair, I found an envelope on it from you. Inside it was a wedge with Paul's personality on it, and I used it.

Victor stared at her, at a loss for words. Alpha glared at her coldly.

"So, lover boy's inside your head," he asked coolly.

"Yes, you gave him back to him."

Alpha scoffed, and resumed pacing, this time clenching and unclenching his fists. He felt cold fury rising up inside him, worse than when he was observing the growing love between Echo and Paul. Sure, at least Ballard wasn't in his own mind anymore, bugging the hell out him, but Echo was _his._ The thought of him being with Echo for the rest of her life as one of her many personalities made him want to punch something, preferably kill.

Victor seemed to notice his shift in mood because his hand instantly went to his gun. Echo tightened her grip on her own gun. Alpha took a step towards her. Thinking this meant to be threatening, Victor stepped in-between the two.

"Cool it," he warned.

"Down boy." Alpha didn't even look at him as he said this. All he could do was stare at Echo.

"Well, Echo," he began, "I hope you and him are very happy together."

"Alpha-"

He cut her off. "When you want an actual human being just let me know." With that he turned and walked out of the office, punching the wall next to the door as he did so. Alpha continued down the stairs seething, knowing that if he had stayed in that room a minute longer, he would have killed Echo—or at least tried to—in a fit of rage.

_I need some liquor,_ he thought to himself suddenly.

There was a woman in a wheelchair staring at him warily, but he completely ignored her as he headed toward the kitchen. It was large and spacious, the kind of kitchen you would most likely find in a five-star restaurant. Alpha walked up to the double-door fridge, and yanked open the door. It was mostly empty except for a carton of milk and some eggs. Alpha then began rummaging through all the cabinets. "Adelle must have had some alcohol in here, _somewhere," _he grumbled to himself. He finally found a bottle of whiskey in a cabinet over the stove.

Leaning against the counter he yanked off the cap and took a long swig. Some of the tension left his shoulders as he relaxed, but he was still simmering from his conversation with Echo. After standing in the kitchen for a few minutes he decided to walk around, see if the Dollhouse had changed much since he last remembered being there. Still holding his bottle of whiskey, he left the kitchen and began wandering around aimlessly. Before he knew it though he ended up in one of the pod rooms.

The room looked the same as ever, except for one particular pod. It was completely surrounded by various statues, books, and other oddities. Writing was scrawled on the inside the pod. Intrigued, Alpha walked up to it and sat down on its edges. He sipped his whiskey as he read the writings. He was about to start leafing through one of the books when he heard the soft tread of feet from behind him.

"What do you want," he growled, not even bothering to turn around.

"Alpha, did you go back to being bad?"

Alpha turned his head to see Victor and Sierra's boy standing there.

"What do you mean kid?"

"When we lived at the compound you were nice but you said that you used to be bad," he explained, looking at him innocently.

"Yea, I guess you could say I've had a little relapse."

T frowned. "Oh…well are going to try to hurt Tony again? I just found out he's my dad and I don't want him being hurt."

"Shouldn't you be with your mommy, kid," Alpha asked, ignoring his question.

As if on cue Sierra came around the corner. "T I thought I told you to stay in the office."

She walked up to her son and shot a glare at Alpha.

"I'm sorry," T said, "I just wanted to talk to Alpha."

"I also told you to stay away from him," she scolded, putting her hands on her hips in a very motherly fashion.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, looking at his feet.

"Oh, leave the kid alone. I wasn't going to hurt him."

"You're insane Alpha; I have no way of knowing that. Plus you're drinking."

"Hey, I can hold my liquor, alright," he told her, taking another swig. "Besides I may be a raging psychopath, but I don't hurt kids. So you can retract your claws Mama Bear." With that said he got up and walked away, slightly offended.

Deciding that he would rather be alone, Alpha headed down the hallway that would take him to the upper floors, or what was left of them. He smiled as he remembered that it was this hallway that he first kissed Echo in, before his composite or Paul Ballard was even heard of.

When the Dollhouse was still in business the door had only been able to open with an employee I.D. card, but now the lock on the door was busted making it easy to get to the rest of the building. Alpha walked through the white halls nonchalantly, trying different doors and moving on if they were locked, which most of them were. He finally found one that wasn't locked. It was the wardrobe room, though half of the clothes were gone, probably to the refugees.

He went to the first rack of clothes and found his name, but none of the clothes tagged Alpha were in his size.

_Figures, _he thought. _Of course they would have gotten someone to replace me after I escaped. He must have been a real shrimp from the looks of these clothes, too._

Alpha was about to look at some of the other clothes when he saw the door to a storage room out of the corner of his eye at the far end of the wall. Curious, he walked over and opened it to find even more clothes inside. These did not have tags with active names on them though, but were arranged by size. Alpha found his size and was a little surprised to find his old clothes. He grinned to himself, obviously Adelle wasted nothing.

He ran his hand along the clothes remembering each engagement he had worn them in. There was that old Hawaiian shirt, the monk robe (that had been a weird engagement even by his standards), there was the black outfit he wore on the Lars engagement. He smiled at the memory that had been some of the most fun he'd had while being an Active.

Alpha looked down distastefully at his own clothes. He was wearing a gray T-shirt with a dark green jacket over it. Frowning, he set down his whiskey and began changing into something he felt was little more him.

Half an hour later Alpha, now clad in a black shirt and leather vest, strolled into the kitchen and once again raided it, but this time for food. He managed to find some bread and peanut butter that were still good and fixed himself a sandwich.

Just as he was taking his first bites, Echo walked in.

"Unless you're here to ask me to extract Paul from your mind, I have nothing to say to you."

Echo, of course, ignored him and walked up to where he was eating his meal at the counter.

"Peanut butter sandwich and a bottle of whiskey," she observed thoughtfully, "Nice to know your taste hasn't changed."

"Are you here to make nice or is there something you want to ask me?"

She sighed. "You know I can't go above ground for about a year or I'll lose all memories of the last ten years, right?"

"Yea, so?"

Echo looked at him intently for a moment, a serious look in her eyes. "So? There's still some tech out there. Even if everyone went back to their original personality, and the Rossum leaders are dead for good with their original bodies gone, there are still people out there who can misuse it. If someone who can use the tech finds it, then everything we did has been for nothing."

Alpha finished chewing and said, "You mean what you did. There is no we. There's just you and your little freedom fighter group."

"You were apart of it, too, "she shot back, "Even if you can't remember it."

Alpha scoffed, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Look, Alpha, I need you to go out there and destroy the rest of the tech."

"You're joking right?" Alpha laughed mirthlessly.

"You're the only that can do it," Echo insisted, with an almost desperate look in her eyes. "Adelle has to help the people who were wiped, and the rest of us are stuck down here for a year or maybe more."

"Not my problem," Alpha said nonchalantly.

"Alpha," Echo pleaded, "please, just do this for me."

"For you," Alpha asked, fixing her with a cold glare that would stop most people's hearts. "You rejected me. Even now after I apparently fought with you and your friends for almost a decade all you want is Ballard, when I'm the only person in this world that can really understand you."

"Paul understands me," she replied evenly.

"Does he know what it's like to have dozens of voices in your head, all trying to give their opinion? Or what it's like to have almost unlimited information at your disposal?"

Echo remained silent, her face impassive.

"That's what I thought," Alpha said, walking away.

"Just think about it, please," she called after him.

Alpha kept walking until he eventually found himself in the imprinting room, standing in front of the chair. This is where he had been born, where he became what he was. The Dollhouse was his birthplace and yet, he realized standing there in front of the chair, that it held nothing for him. He cared for no one or nothing there except for Echo and she had practically ruined herself by being imprinted with Paul Ballard.

Standing there Alpha decided that he would go out there and destroy the tech like Echo asked, if only for something to do, and to figure out a way to extract Paul from her mind.

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**I'll be gone next week so, unfortunately there won't be an update until, at least, the 26th. **

**I realize this chapter may have been dull but I promise the next one will be much better, it's what's really going to kick off the story. So review and tell m what you think, feedback makes me happy. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Okay, we're up to the third chapter! I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, subscribed, or favorited this story. You guys are great. :) **

**So, I just recently found out some Dollhouse related news. The complete second season of Dollhouse is coming out on dvd October 12th. There is also a Dollhouse comic, written by Jed Whedon, coming out with the dvd, though whether it's with a pre-paid copy or just any copy I'm not sure. THe comic will take place during the ten year jump between ,'Hollow Men', and 'Epitaph 2'. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dollhouse or any of it's characters. Joss Whedon owns everything. **

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**Chapter Three**

It was midday when Alpha finally drove away from the ruins of L.A. He was driving in the tech-heads truck. Victor had given it to him after hearing that he was going off to destroy the remaining tech. It had taken him an hour or two to fix the damage that had been done to it, but now it was working just fine.

Alpha was heading to Las Vegas first. Echo had told him that they were never able to find and destroy the Dollhouse there. He drove for hours with nothing but the sound of the engine, which suited him just fine. He rarely remembered having much quiet since his composite. There were always the voices there, arguing, chastising him, urging him on. They were unusually quiet. Alpha suspected that it might have something to do with the after effects of Topher's reset button.

He could still feel that other personality there, at the back of his mind. It wasn't quite as strong as the others, but Alpha suspected that it wasn't going to stay that way for long. After all it was his original personality. Even though Alpha didn't want to admit it to himself, but it was the only thing that made sense. It would certainly explain the forceful new personality, and unexplained memories.

_Well, if Mr. Kraft thinks he can just come in and take over he's got another thing coming, _Alpha thought to himself.

Alpha came upon what used to be Las Vegas about an hour after setting. There were fires burning sporadically throughout it. Neo signs that had once advertised casinos and restaurants were broken and cracked. Palm trees lay in the road and debris was everywhere.

Alpha parked the vehicle in front of a hotel he once stayed at while on the run. He took out a map of the city that Echo had given him and studied the area she had circled. Las Vegas had contained too many butchers and too high a risk of wiping for Echo or Victor to dare enter it.

Walking over to the cabinets near the back of the vehicle, Alpha tucked the map in his back pocket. Whistling, Viva Las Vegas, Alpha opened the cabinet and pulled out two handguns. Making sure that they were loaded, he tucked one in the waistband of his pants, and held on to the other one. He then grabbed a long hunting knife and tucked into his boot, smiling at the way it gleamed in the dull light.

The Las Vegas Dollhouse was located in the Mirage hotel and casino which was, of course, located on the famous Strip. This was where Alpha headed when he stepped out onto the streets.

One thing that bothered Alpha as he walked was the lack of people. Las Vegas was huge, with thousands of people. He should have seen at least a few people, but so far he had seen no one whereas in L.A. there had been groups of people walking around all over the place. Deciding that walking right out in the open where anyone could see or shoot him was a bad idea, he moved over to the sidewalk where he'd be less noticeable.

He continued walking down the sidewalk, gun in hand when he saw the sign he had been looking for. Las Vegas Boulevard South. A.K.A the Strip. Of course the Strip had seen better days. Most of the signs were down or in some cases on fire, though the motel sign was somehow alright.

"Alright," Alpha said to himself. "Now all I have to do is tell all the partially destroyed hotels apart from each other."

As he stepped onto the boulevard, a group of four men stepped out from one of the more modest hotels on the corner. They looked just like average men, none of them particularly big or small. They were, however, carrying guns in their hands.

Alpha stopped and tensed as they approached him. Other than the guns in two of the mens' hands, the men wouldn't have appeared too menacing to most people. They were clean-shaved and were wearing clothes that weren't in tatters like most of the survivors, though no doubt they'd found them in the hotel they had just come out of. There was something challenging about the way they approached him, though, squaring their shoulders to seem bigger and tilting their heads slightly up as if to impress upon him that they were better.

The men form a half circle around Alpha, though they kept a relaxed grip on their guns. Obviously they didn't think he would put up much of a fight should they attack. Alpha smirked at this notion, and then raised an eyebrow questioningly at the man. "Can I help you?"

The nearest to his right was the one who spoke up first. He had dark hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. "Depends, what have you got?"

Alpha let out a scornful laugh. "Are you trying to rob me? And what exactly do you expect me to have in the aftermath of the Apocalypse?" His mind went to his truck as he said this, but there was no way in hell he was going to tell them about _that._

"Look," the pony- tailed man said, glaring at him. "We just want anything useful that you have. Like, weapons, food, clothes…"

"Women," the man to his far left finished with a smirk.

Alpha scoffed before turning back to the pony- tailed man. "And what if I decide that I don't want to comply?"

The man raised his handgun, pointing it directly at his head. "Something tells me you will."

Alpha let out a small laugh. If that was how pony tail wanted to do things then he was more than happy to play along. "Alright," he told them, raising his hands (and subsequently his gun) in the air. "You win. I'll show you what I've got."

The pony -tailed man gave him a condescending smirk as he lowered his weapon. "That's what I thought."

_Idiot, _Alpha thought, and then with a yell he sprung his attack. He grabbed the man's arm, pulling him towards his body while at the same time hitting him across the head with the side of his gun. Still holding the now stunned man to his body, Alpha pivoted so that his back was to the man who had previously been to his right. He effectively head butted the man behind him with the back of his head, while one of the men tried shooting at him, but all he succeeded in shooting was the man Alpha held to his body as a human shield.

Alpha brought up his own gun and shot it twice, one bullet in each one of the men's head. He dropped the now dead man he had used as his human shield, and turned to the man he had head butted only to find himself staring at the muzzle of a gun. For a second Alpha wondered where the man had gotten it from since he hadn't been carrying one, but then he remembered the man he had hit across the face with his gun had dropped his.

The man's nose was swollen and bleeding, obviously broken, his eyes were blazing with fury. "You son of a bitch," he hissed through clenched teeth. "You're going to pay for this."

Alpha raised the corner of his mouth in disdain. "Go ahead," he told him in a cold voice, "do it." A gunshot rang out, but Alpha did not feel the pain he was expecting.

The man's eyes widened in surprise and pain as he let out a small, quiet, groan. The gun slipped from his fingers, he no longer having the strength to hold it. Alpha took a step back as the man fell forward and hit the ground. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement as he watched the blood blossom across the man's back.

Alpha looked up, raising his head as he did so, to deal with whoever had decided to join the fight. He was once again surprised (twice in one day, he hoped this wasn't becoming a habit) when he saw who it was. Smirking, he lowered his gun.

"Well, what do you know? If it isn't Adele's little lap dog."

Laurence Dominic lowered his own gun slightly, and Alpha could hear him sigh even though he was several feet away.

"Alpha," he greeted, though he sounded about as excited as someone who has just found out their mother-in-law was coming over for dinner.

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"Echo told me that you left the group about five years ago." Alpha and Dominic were walking side-by-side through Las Vegas. Dominic had left his fellow fighters at the edge of the city. Apparently after a group of butchers they were fighting passed out and suddenly woke up as normal people again, Dominic's group had gone back to the city, with Dominic going ahead to scout the area. Alpha had already filled him in on the pulse bomb, and his memory loss.

"Yes, I decided to go out on my own," Dominic answered. He was as serious as Alpha remembered, though his hair was completely gray now. Whether it was from stress or just ten years of aging, Alpha wasn't sure.

"So, there was no other reason for leaving? No, lover's spat?" Alpha smirked at him, thinking of Adelle.

"No, not that I know what you're talking about, though." Dominic kept his familiar, cool demeanor in place, but Alpha suspected that he knew who he was talking about.

"This way," Alpha told him, turning onto the street that would lead him to his truck. Dominic reluctantly followed, looking slightly irritated.

"Why are we going this way?"

"To get my truck, driving the rest of the way will be faster."

Dominic wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Truck? Wait, are you talking about that front part of a semi we found years ago."

Alpha nodded, feeling a prickle of anger at the ten year memory gap in his mind. He had always made sure that he was informed, using various means to get information on the going-ons of the Dollhouse. Now people were telling him about all these events and things that happened, things that he was involved in, and he had no recollection of them. For god's sake he brought back Paul Ballard so he could be with Echo, who he still believed rightfully belonged with him.

The truck was exactly as Alpha had left it. Dominic stopped and looked at it skeptically. "Are you sure this thing will still run alright?"

"I got it here, didn't I?" Alpha asked shortly.

"I suppose." Even so, he still had that skeptical look on his face as he climbed into the cab along with Alpha.

Alpha rolled his eyes at him. "Stick in the mud," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Dominic's group was a pitiful sight, or at least in Alpha's mind they were. There were three of them, all men. Their clothes were tattered, and hung off of them like rags, indicating that they hadn't eaten much. Two of them were twins with dark hair, and uneven beards. The other one was small and meek in comparison, holding his gun awkwardly. This didn't stop him from firing at the truck with the others as soon as it came into view.

Alpha slammed on the brakes, cursing. "God damn it!"

He and Dominic ducked down as the firing continued. After a few seconds of this, Dominic was brave enough to raise his head. Apparently one of them must have recognized him because the firing ceased soon after.

Alpha flung open the door, muttering a string of curses. "I'm going to kill those bastards," he growled, walking around to the front of the truck to inspect the damage.

"No you're not," Dominic told him, getting out from the passenger side.

"Wanna bet? I just fixed this thing this morning." He felt his frustration grow as he saw bullet holes in the grill, indicating that some bullets might have gone through and damaged the engine. "Yep, their pitiful lives are about to come to a close."

"Look just stay here and calm down. I'm going to go over there and talk to them, tell them what's happened. They might be willing to help us dismantle the Dollhouse."

Alpha snorted in derision. "Why would I need their help? The only reason I'm bringing you along is because you have certain insider information from working for them that might be useful."

For a moment Dominic scowled at him, then, with what seemed to be a great amount of strength, he sighed deeply. "Either way I'm still going to talk to them. Whether or not you think so we could use the extra men, just in case. There may be no more butchers but that doesn't mean it isn't still dangerous. Like gangs for instance." He gave Alpha a pointed look at these words.

Alpha sighed with exaggerated patience. He felt like he was the last person who needed lectures on the dangers of the world (for god's sake he _was_ one of the dangers of the world), but he decided to throw the former head of security a bone. "Fine, go talk to your little band of freedom fighters. I'll just stay here and make sure everything's alright with my truck."

Dominic nodded once, before walking over to the trio.

Turning back to his truck, Alpha slipped into his engineer personality and climbed into the cab so he could grab something he could stand to lift up the hood. He happened to glance out the front window as he was climbing in and noticed two thin, but steady streams of smoke starting to come out from under the hood of the truck.

For a split second Alpha wanted a few butchers to show up, just so he could take the edge off.

* * *

**So, what do you guys think of me including Dom? I always hated how they never mentioned him in the last episode, plus I just love his character. :) Hopefully a deleted scene in the season two dvd won't reveal he was killed or something. O.o**

**Review and tell me what you guys think.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, here it is. Better late than never I suppose. **

**Disclaimer: Joss owns everything Dollhouse.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asked._

_ "We have your honor."_

_ "Then will the defendant please rise."_

_ With an almost inaudible sigh, he rose from his seat, though he already had a suspicion on what the verdict would be._

_ The tall man representing the jury began reading off from a piece of paper. "On the charges of kidnapping we, the jury, find the defendant, Karl William Kraft, guilty. On the charges of assault, we find the defendant, guilty. And finally on the charges of attempted murder, we find the defendant, guilty." _

_There were murmurs from people in the seats behind him but Karl ignored them as he watched the judge turn to him, ready to deliver his sentence. _

"_Karl William Craft, I sentence you to sixty-five years in the Las Angeles Department of corrections. You will be eligible for parole in twenty-five years." The judge banged his gravel. "Dismissed."_

_His lawyer turned toward him, an apologetic look upon his face. Karl didn't care, though, He had known at the beginning of his case that he would be convicted, his only hope was parole. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Nitta standing with an older couple that had to be her parents. The cuts on her face had almost healed by now. He could still remember how it felt when he cut her. The rush of adrenaline, the way the knife felt when-_

"Alpha?"

Alpha woke with a jerk. It took a moment for him to realize where he was, the motel he and the rest of the group had found last night. Part of him still felt like he was back in the courtroom and he could feel Karl trying to take control again. With a growl, he pushed him to the back of his mind. He could feel the man's frustration at not having control, and he could tell this wouldn't be the last of his mental struggles with him. The thought made him furious, but at the moment there wasn't much he could do about it.

"_Alpha_," the same voice said, though more persistent this time.

He looked up from his bed to see Dominic standing across the room.

"What is it," he growled.

"Everyone's ready to move out."

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute," he told him, his voice still heavy with sleep.

Dominic nodded his head, and left the room.

Alpha got up with a groan. It had been late at night when he finally fixed the damage done to the truck. He, along with Dominic and the other man, had decided to just wait until morning to go to the Dollhouse. Eventually they had found a motel that didn't look to shabby, or conspicuous. At first he had rejoiced at the prospect of sleeping in a proper bed, but now his back and neck were so stiff that he wished he had slept on the floor.

Quickly shoving his gun in the waistband of his pants, Alpha joined the others in the back of the motel where he had parked the truck. Dominic was leaning against the driver's door, his hand resting lightly on his holstered gun. The other three men stood directly in front of the van, guns held at the ready. Dominic had introduced them the previous night. The twins were Alex and James (though for the life of him he couldn't remember who was who). The other man was called George. They all regarded him warily as he walked past them, almost as if they expected him to turn into a butcher at any second.

"Dominic and I are going to ride up front, you three can ride in the back," he told them.

George merely nodded, but the twins exchanged irritated glances, obviously not pleased with being told what to do by a man they just met.

"Is there a problem with that," he asked, challengingly.

"No," began one twin.

"No problem," the other finished.

Alpha scrutinized them for a moment longer, as if that way he could detect the underlying hostility he was sure was there. The twins' faces, however, remained blank.

"Let's move out." Alpha swiftly climbed into the cab, and started the truck, the others quickly climbed in.

* * *

"So, what's the deal with the twins," Alpha asked Dominic once they were on the road.

Dominic simply shrugged his shoulders. "Not much to tell. They were both black ops before the wipes started. I found them when I was trying to live out in the dessert. They'd been living out there for a few years, only risking venturing out into the city when they needed certain supplies.

"Do any of them know about the Dollhouse?"

Dominic snorted. "Are you kidding? Even after the blanket signals started, the Dollhouse stayed a myth. Most people know that Rossum had a hand in creating the tech, they just don't realize how big a part they really played."

"If they don't know what the Dollhouse is, then where did you tell them we're going," he inquired, glancing over at his companion.

"Just that there was some tech hidden under a hotel we needed to get rid of. It's not that far from the truth really."

All in all, it took thirty minutes for them to find the Mirage and Casino hotel. Navigating the vehicle had become more difficult the farther in they went into the city. Alpha found himself constantly driving around debris, and the occasionally human body, though he was eventually able to find the Strip, and the hotel.

He parked the truck right in front of the main entrance.

"Have you ever been to this place before," Alpha asked Dominic as they got out.

"No," he replied, looking around. "Most likely though, the only way to get into it will be through an elevator shaft."

"It's probably just going to be one elevator shaft," Alpha added, looking up at the hotel. It was a shade of its former grandeur, from what he could see, many of the windows were broken, and the Beatles banner at the very top was so filthy you could barely see the vivid orange it was supposed to be. None the less, it was still an enormous hotel, with dozens of elevator shafts.

"Go and get some supplies out from the back," he said, still staring up at the hotel. "I'm going to on ahead and see if I can find anything in there that might point us in the right direction."

"You can't go in there by yourself," Dominic protested, but Alpha was already walking toward the entrance. His only response was, 'to be sure and bring rope'.

The inside of the hotel still held the tropical theme it had promoted. Many of the palm trees and other tropical looking plants were still in place. The lobby didn't looked like it had suffered much damage either, though several chairs and tables were knocked over, and papers were scattered over the floor.

Alpha walked over to the check-in desk and hopped over it, then proceeded to file through its drawers.

"Ah, here we go," he murmured to himself, finding a whole pile of maps for the hotel in a drawer, which were no doubt given to guests on arrival. He unfolded it, his eyes quickly sweeping over the pamphlet. It wasn't nearly as detailed as he would have like it to be. Blueprints for the building would have been much more useful, but there was no way for him to locate those. After studying the map for a few seconds, Alpha narrowed down the most likely places for the entrance to the Dollhouse; near the security office where the safes were mostly likely kept as well, the offices next to the casinos, or somewhere near the dance club.

Alpha tucked the map in his back pocket before hopping back over the desk and heading for the direction of the security center since it was the closest. As he walked past one of the restaurants he noticed a few overturned tables with bullet holes in them, indicating that there had been a shoot out at some point.

Alpha's footsteps echoed off the walls and high ceilings. There was the very same silence inside the hotel that there had been in the city. The silence was strange for Alpha who was accustomed to there being some sort of noise, whether it be inside or outside his head. Somehow the silence seemed more deafening than anything else he ever heard.

When Alpha opened the door that would lead him to the security center, he found himself in a concrete hallway. Nothing out of the ordinary about it, except for the fact that it was lit up by fluorescent lights, something that shouldn't be running when electricity in the rest of the building was shut off, and had been for a while.

Alpha looked up at the lights, a grin stretching across his features. Electricity meant that there had to be a generator close by. Halfway down the hall there was a door with a wire mesh window, obviously the security center, where they monitored the security cameras. At the end of the hall was a gray metal door. Striding past the security center, Alpha tested the door and found it unlocked. Smiling triumphantly, he stepped into a dimly lit room.

There wasn't much in it, except few boxes, and a safe that was most likely used to store valuable items that guests didn't trust to put in the safes in their room, Alpha's eyes wandered over the room until they rested on the heavy metal, key card door. He began walking towards it, when the knob started to turn; Alpha quickly hid himself behind a shelf filled with boxes, as the door opened. Peering in-between the boxes, Alpha could see a young, redheaded woman, walk into the room.

She looked around the room warily, a gun in hand. Alpha pressed his back up against the wall, relying on the shelf to keep him concealed. The woman held the gun out in front of her as she made her way to the door, passing Alpha and his hiding place without noticing him. With her back now turned to him, Alpha followed her, treading softly.

When she had reached the door he was only three feet behind her. Maybe she had heard him after all, or maybe she had just sensed his presence behind her, but when Alpha was about to make his move to grab her she spun around, bringing her gun up as she did so and pulling the trigger.

Alpha gritted his teethe in pain as the bullet ripped through his left shoulder, the sound of the gunshot still reverberating in his head. With a snarl he lunged forward, knocking the gun out of the woman's hand as he did so, and pinned her up against the door. She began screaming, but he quickly cut her off by covering her mouth with his hand. Her eyes were wide and confused as she looked up at him. It seemed like she was still trying to register the fact that he was in the room with her.

Alpha regarded her for a moment or two, wondering whether or not he should just kill her to get her out of the way. "I'm going to remove my hand now," he told her in a quiet voice, deciding that most likely she had information he needed. "When I do, you're not going to scream, and you're going to answer a few questions I have, understood?"

The woman nodded slowly. Alpha took his hand away from her mouth, eliciting a sharp pain from his shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth, before continuing.

"How long have you been down here," he asked.

She swallowed once before answering. "Nine or eight years. Ever since Las Vegas was covered in a blanket signal that turned most of the people into butchers."

"Where have you been staying all this time?"

Alpha pressed down on her windpipe with his good arm when she remained silent. "It would be in your best interest to answer the question," he whispered in a chilling voice.

"We've been staying in some Sort of underground facility," she managed to choke out.

Alpha quirked an eyebrow questioningly and lessened the pressure he was applying to he throat. "We?"

"A few other employees and I."

He nodded. "Right, does this, 'underground facility', happen to have a room full of technology with a strange looking chair?"

The woman's eyes widened in surprise and recognition. "Yes, how do you know that?"

Alpha smiled conspiratorially at her. "How 'bout we just call it a hunch." He removed his arm from her windpipe. "What's your name," he asked.

"Ashley," she said quietly, "but I prefer Ash."

"Well then, Ash," Alpha bent down and scooped up the gun from where it lay on the floor, "you're going to take me to where this facility is, but first we have to get the rest of my group."

"There are others," she asked in surprise as Alpha took hold of her arm and dragged her through the door.

"Yep, they're not much company though, one's a weakling and the others are just hard-asses."

Ash continued to stare at him in bewilderment. "But what about all the butchers?"

"Gone, they all turned back into pumpkins."

She gave him a look that was filled with both hope and doubt. Hope that what he was saying was really true, and doubt such a thing could have really happened over night.

As they continued down the hall Alpha noticed out of the corner of his eye that she kept shooting glances his way, almost as if to reaffirm he was actually there. At first Alpha thought this was out of fear, but then realized that he was probably the first person, other than those that she had holed up with, she had talked to in years. She had wide brown eyes that reminded him of Whiskey. He wondered what ever happened to her.

* * *

Luckily the elevator that led to the Dollhouse was still running, saving them the trouble of having to use the rope. Alpha was so used to the spa-like appearance of the LA. Dollhouse that when the elevator doors opened, revealing the Vegas Dollhouse the shock of it was like hitting a brick wall.

Whoever had designed the Dollhouse obviously had wanted to stay with the Mirage's 'South Seas' theme. What must have been the lounge area for the Dolls, looked like one big garden of tropical plants. There was even a small, natural-looking pond in one corner. A green carpet wound its way through the plants and led to the center of the room where several couches were set up.

Alpha stepped out of the elevator and surveyed his surroundings appraisingly. "Not bad, it has this sort of, 'Garden of Eden', vibe to it."

Dominic was right behind him looking at his surroundings distastefully, not as impressed with the Dollhouse's interior as his companion. "Figures the Vegas Dollhouse would go over the top," Alpha heard him mutter to himself.

"What did you say this place was again," George asked a perplexed expression on his face.

"I didn't," Alpha replied cryptically, not even turning to look at him. "Ash could tell you, though."

Alpha glanced over his now bandaged shoulder to see George and the twins turn questioningly to Ash, who seemed uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

He turned to Dominic. "You got the tools?"

Dominic held up a brown duffel bag. "Since you weren't specific about which tolls you needed, I had to dump half the tool box in here."

Alpha wordlessly took the bag from the man's hands, and headed for the end of the lounge where a there was a metal staircase that most likely led to the imprinting room. Behind him he could hear Dominic's footsteps.

"You keep following me like this, and you're going to make me think that you have a crush on me," Alpha remarked.

"I'm just following you to make sure you dismantle the tech."

Alpha stopped in front of the stairs and turned to face the other man.

"You don't trust me," he inquired, amusement in his voice.

Dominic fixed him with a hard look. "Are you kidding? No amount of good deeds will make me trust you. The only reason you helped us at the compound was to save yourself, and maybe for Echo."

"Is that a fact," he hissed, then lowered his voice when he noticed the others glancing their way, "because I wouldn't remember."

"For the first time in almost a decade I was able to travel through a city without being attacked by butchers. I'm not going to risk ever going back to that." There was fierce determination in his voice that was impossible to miss.

"I have nothing to hide, so if you want to watch me dismantle the tech, be my guest."

In reply Dominic gave him a curt nod. Alpha turned his back to him rolling his eyes. He could watch him like a hawk if he wanted, but it wouldn't make a difference.

* * *

**I tried to make the court room scene as realistic as possible but I'm afraid most of my info comes from Law and Order, and there is only so much the internet can tell you.**

**Until next time  
**


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